Revealing & Accepting
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, days 1247a to 1253a: At age 15, Nora P. Fabray found herself at the head of a talent show at school, when a rumor came about that had to do with her. - Sunshine Girls 2 series
1. The Lead

_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 59th cycle. Now cycle 60!_

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_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

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**"Revealing & Accepting"  
Nora 15 (AU!Beth), Emily, Grace - Finn/Quinn, Puck/Rachel, Hailey & Hannah 4  
Sunshine Girls 2 Series  
_(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)_**

******1. The Lead**

_A/N: This story and all stories for two weeks (days 1240-1253) are dedicated to  
a very dear and awesome friend on the occasion of her birthday ;) Here's to you, Anne!_

As far as she was concerned, this show could not have come at a better time. Grace had only just transferred to McKinley, after her father had gone back to Scotland for work. Not only would this give her a chance to get better known, but it would also give her something fun to focus on, instead of missing her father and her older brother Donny.

They doubted it was the show itself that would bring participants in, so much as the prizes they could win. The school had really outdone itself, which was saying a lot in their case. Some would have called it a talent show – it certainly worked like one – but its true purpose was to raise funds for some worthy causes. Many of them wouldn't even be aware of this, which made the pool of student candidates to run the show that much smaller. They wanted someone who would be mindful of what they were really doing. There were two choices of note.

Nora's competition came in the shape of Bailey Strong. They didn't interact so much, on any given day, even though they were in the same year. But she still knew plenty of her, and not just for the fact that she was in a wheelchair. Emily would say that Bailey made it her mission in life to make that the least interesting thing about her, which they would have respected a lot more if her methods weren't to basically be obnoxious and mean.

When it had been announced that Nora had been granted the position, she had been beyond ecstatic. Bailey looked more like she had ingested a hot pepper and a sour lime at the same time and they were fighting it out on her face. She would act gracious, as they were standing right there in front of faculty, but then Nora could already see about a hundred comebacks queuing up in her brain, waiting to be shot out at her. Bailey couldn't spoil this for her, but just in case she had hurried to leave and rejoin Emily and Grace so they could head on home.

"Did you get it?" Emily asked, just as Nora snatched up her arm and waved for Grace to come along as well. "Ow, that's my arm!" she cried out.

"Just hurry up before we get steamrolled," Nora told her.

"What did you do?" Grace asked.

"Nothing!" she defended herself with a laugh.

"So you did get it," Emily guessed.

"Yes, now let's get out of here."

Nora arrived home to an empty house. It would be a little while longer before her mother arrived, having picked up Hailey on the way from work, and then her stepfather would be arriving around the same time. She had taken the time, while she had it, to draft up a better list than she already had, in anticipation of what she would need to do for the show.

She heard what she thought to be a car and stretched her neck to look out the window. She smirked and ran from her room, getting down the stairs as fast as she could and coming about face to face with her stepfather. "Hey, Dad, guess what!" she told him. Her smirk had gone and found him, and there was no way he wouldn't know the answer.

"You're running the fundraiser?" Finn asked, and the fifteen-year-old nodded, holding up both of her hands. He gave the double high five, following right through into picking her up into a hug.

"That's great, Nora, you're going to be the best show runner they could get," he declared, and it made her laugh. "That's my story," he insisted.

"It was just me and another girl in the end, she was not happy when I got it, not at all," she carried on as he went about putting his things away, following him around. "She had one of these faces, you know, like…" she imitated Bailey's expression, and he looked startled. "Exactly."

Before long, they could hear the door downstairs, and… "Hello?" Quinn's voice called out.

"Up here," Finn called.

"I got it," Nora told him, moving to return down the stairs one more time. As soon as her little sister had spotted her, she came up, waving a piece of paper.

"Look, it's for you," Hailey announced. Nora crouched down so she could see.

"Wow," she smirked. "Thank you so much, I love it," she beamed.

"That's you, and me, and Mommy, and Daddy, Hannah, and Auntie and Uckle," she pointed. From the time she had started talking, that was how she had called her uncle Puck; he was more than happy to have her call him as she liked.

"It's beautiful, should we put it in my room, or on the fridge, on in the basement…" Nora listed off options. Hailey pointed up. "My room?" She nodded. "Okay, we will do that, but first, gotta talk to mom, come on." In the kitchen, Quinn had already started preparing dinner.

"How did it go today?" she asked; she was just as curious to know. When Nora grinned, she laughed and came up to hug her. "You're going to be great."

"That's what Dad said."

"Well you will be," Quinn nodded.

"I hope so, or else Bailey will never let me hear the end of it," Nora sighed. "I mean I would have been bummed out, too, if I hadn't gotten the post, but she looked like it was a personal attack on her, like it belonged to her, and I stole it away."

"You earned it," Quinn promised. "So don't worry about this other girl. You show her why they picked you." Nora smiled; she could do that.

"Nora…" Hailey tugged at her shirt.

"Oh, right, your picture," she remembered. "Alright, let's go," she pointed up to the stairs, and Hailey was gone in a flash.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	2. The Acts

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

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**"Revealing & Accepting"**

**2. The Acts**

The audition list had filled up about as fast as they could expect, with the prizes on the line. Nora had to weed out the pranks out of the list, but eventually they had a lineup ready to be received in the auditorium. Mr. Schuester would be sitting in during the auditions, which honestly made her happy. All she waited on now was for the sign-up sheet to go up so she could try out for Glee Club. It shouldn't be long by now. Schuester had been a family friend for as long as she could remember. She had heard so many stories about him and her parents, back when they were in this Glee Club. All she wanted was to be part of it, too.

"Are you ready?" he asked when they took their seats on audition day.

"As I'll ever be," she smiled, looking down to her notebook. She had prepared pages for all those who would be auditioning that day. "Should I go last?" she asked him.

"You want to audition?"

"I'm not going to slide in just because of where I am," she sat up straight. "I'm going to audition, just like everybody else," she nodded.

"Well then I guess that, yes, you can go on last after we're done with these," he smiled. "You want to call up the first name?" he asked, and she cleared her throat.

"Jay Buckler?" she called out. All those who had signed up to audition had been told to show up at this time, and they sat scattered along the auditorium.

They could do anything they wanted, within reason. Some would sing, others would dance, some would do both. Then there were those who played instruments, or did magic, some tried their hand at comedy… The first one, Jay, would sing. Nora and Will both had been very impressed with him, and they wrote as much in their notes.

There would be plenty of those who were good, others who were excellent. And then there would be those who were just bad. If Nora and Will were lucky, the boy or girl would take the rejection. There would still be those who could not seem to accept that they might not have been as good as they thought they were.

"Oh, yes," Nora mumbled to herself before turning to call. "Emily Holt!" She resisted tacking on a 'get your butt up here,' minding where she was. She heard something like a swallowed curse, and she looked back to find Emily shaking her foot for a moment before coming up to the steps. "You okay?" she called.

"Stubbed my toe, I'm fine," she insisted, pushing hair from her face and taking a moment to remember herself. "So, can I start?" she pointed to the piano, and Nora nodded. She had a bit of a limp toward the instrument, but once she sat down, you could hardly tell anything had been wrong a moment ago. She began to play, and she sang, and Nora had to sneak glances to the side, loving how much Schuester appeared impressed by her friend. When she'd finished, Nora snuck her some thumbs up.

It had taken some convincing with Grace. She was still new here, hadn't really done anything. She wasn't worried about what she was about to do; like the first day she had walked into their ballet class, she was at her most confident when she danced. She had finally agreed to at least audition, as though anyone could see her and turn her down, and now here she came. Whereas Nora and Emily had continued their training and could earn very respectable praise, Grace was in a league of her own, always had been. One day, she could well be one of the most well-known ballerinas out there; Nora would stake her reputation on that. She could just get lost, sitting and watching her. There was no denying anymore, she was falling more and more in love with her every day. Sometimes it scared her. She knew the odds of her ever returning those feelings toward her were very slim, and what if she found out and she didn't want to be her friend anymore? She couldn't bear to lose her.

"Nora?" Will had tapped her shoulder, and she was startled; she had been lost in her thoughts of Grace, so much so that she hadn't realized when the girl was done.

"Sorry, I…" she pulled herself back into an upright position. Grace hadn't noticed a thing, which was a good thing, she guessed. She just smiled over at her, and Nora smiled back. "Thanks, you were amazing… again."

As Grace had left the stage, Nora looked back to her notes, turning the page and finding they had come to the last name before she was to go up. She took a breath, cleared her throat before calling out Bailey's name.

The girl wheeled up along the ramps to get on the stage, stopping in the middle. She could look as sweet as pie when she wanted to, and as she smiled to the two of them sat to listen to her, Nora knew it was an act. There was something behind that smile that told her she was still not over what had happened, and she would have done a much better job.

"Ready to start?" Nora told her, trying not to sound as annoyed as she was.

"Yes, I think I am," Bailey declared. "I will start, Nora," she nodded, then after a moment she looked over her shoulder to cue the music.

As was to be expected, she was excellent. She finished out her song, Will complimented her, and she went on her way. There had been one second where their eyes met though, her and Nora, and there was something the young Fabray didn't like.

"Your turn now?" Will drew her back.

"Right, okay," she put her pen down, grabbed her guitar, and went up to stand on stage.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	3. The Quitters

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

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**"Revealing & Accepting"**

**3. The Quitters**

After they had discussed and reviewed all the auditions, Nora and Will had locked down the set list for the fundraiser show. She had taken care of advising all the acts herself, whether they had been selected or not. Over the next few days, things had really started to take shape.

"I still think we need to do a group number, the three of us," Emily told her and Grace as they stood around the redhead's locker. "You know, like a couple years ago with the talent show? Remember, the costumes," she smirked.

"Oh, I remember," Nora nodded.

"I guess that would be alright," Grace shrugged.

"Crap, what does she want?" Emily had spoken up suddenly, and the other two turned to find Bailey Strong was coming up to them.

"Nora, I was hoping I would find you, listen, would it be alright if I took Mason's spot? It's right after the intermission, and I've got a song that would be perfect to get the audience back in the mood for the second half of the show," she explained, with that smile Emily had once said she would do anything to wipe from her face.

"Uh, well," Nora reached to take her notebook from her bag. "I thought you really wanted your previous spot, you nearly tore my head off about it," she recalled not too fondly.

"Oh, no, you misunderstand me," Bailey replied, with an edge of condescension. "I'm keeping my spot, and I want Mason's as well." Nora snapped the notebook shut.

"Well, Bailey, Mason's spot should be Mason's, don't you think?" Now she knew she had walked right into where Bailey wanted her, as her smile lifted.

"Well, Nora, Mason quit, so his spot is vacant and up for the taking. So I'm taking it," the smile dropped.

"He q… When did that happen?"

"I heard him tell Mr. Schuester about it, I thought you knew," she shrugged. Nora turned and stomped off down the hall. As she retreated, she could hear Bailey. "So his spot's mine, right?" Emily and Grace followed her.

"Nora, calm down," Grace tried to sound reassuring, sensing the blonde was about to lose it.

"I don't think it's working," Emily shook her head.

"Mason!" Nora called when she spotted him. The boy froze, saw her, then made a quick exit into the boys' room. When she looked ready to follow him, her friends had pulled her back.

"Hey, hey, come on, he's going to have to come out eventually," Emily reminded her. "Why submit yourself to what has to be some face melting boy smells in there?"

"I think you're just upset because Bailey knew and you didn't," Grace once again attempted the role of voice of reason.

"I need to find Mr. Schuester," Nora decided, turning to go to his office instead. Emily and Grace tagged along once more. As they neared, the teacher approached; he needed to talk to her, too.

"I assume you heard about the drop outs," he sighed.

"Drop… how many have quit?" she asked, stunned.

"Four acts as of a few minutes ago," he reported, and she blanched. This couldn't be happening.

"Did they say why? They gave reasons, though if you ask me, not one of those reasons was true. They wanted out. I tried to convince them to stay, but they wouldn't. Look, we will find a way around this. We made that wait list for a reason, as a contingency. We can look at those again, ask them to audition one more time, or we can hold a new set of auditions."

"What if more of them quit?" Nora asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, just go on to class, and we'll see how the day goes, alright?" She nodded in silence, turning back to her friends as the teacher walked off down the hall.

"Did you guys hear anything about this?" she asked them. They shook their heads. "Was it something I did? I mean, I know I can have a temper sometimes, but I thought we were doing well." Emily put a hand to her shoulder, while Grace held to her arm.

"We were," she told the blonde. "We are," she corrected. "Whatever it is, it's not going to be about you," Grace assured her.

"That might actually have something to do with it." They turned at the sound of the boy's voice.

"Jay?" Nora looked at him, not liking the look in his eyes; he looked worried.

"I might have heard some… things," he started, looking around as he spoke.

"What things?" Emily asked.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this out here," he tilted his head toward an empty classroom. The girls followed him, and Grace shut the door, sensing it might be needed. "Let me start off by saying no matter what happens, I am not quitting the show, okay? I'm with you."

"Noted," Nora told him, feeling her anxiety raise with the suspense.

"I don't really know how it started, or who started it, but there have been some words, going around the school, words about you."

"What words?" Emily now asked. The way Jay looked at her now, Nora felt he was asking a question, his eyes turning ever discreetly from Emily, to Grace, and then back to her, like he was asking 'should I say this in front of them?' Or it might have been more accurate to say 'do they know already?' He didn't have to specify the question at hand.

"They know," she sighed.

"What?" Emily's voice was flat; they were all way ahead of Jay now. She hadn't gone out of her way to hide her sexuality, all the people she cared about knew, although as far as she knew no one else had really caught on. She would call it the best kept unkept secret. But now it seemed people had finally caught on.

"Are you saying they quit because they found out about me?" Nora asked Jay. He wouldn't say it outright, but he didn't have to.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	4. The Rumor

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Revealing & Accepting"**

**4. The Rumor**

She needed a moment to situate herself before she went back out there. She didn't want to believe it, to think that even now, this part of who she was could be used by others in such a way. She didn't know what made it worse, the fact that it was being passed along as it was, or that it was jeopardizing a cause that she believed in.

"Maybe we should go get…" Grace started, and Nora knew what she was about to say, and she got up before she could.

"It's fine," she insisted.

"Nora…" Emily tried to speak, but she too was cut off.

"Now we know what's going on, so… we can deal with it," she nodded. "Will you help me?" she asked the two of them.

"Do you even need to ask?" Emily told her, while Grace gave a nod of agreement.

"Jay?" Nora turned to him. She didn't need to ask him either.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Damage control?" she begged, and he left without another word. Her friends still looked like they thought she needed hugging. "Look, I'm alright, see?" she looked to one and then the other. "Let's just…" she shrugged, heading for the door to get back in the hall.

She would figure out before long just who those other quitters had been, besides Mason; they wouldn't look her in the eye. There were others, too, who would notice her walking by and suddenly look way busier than they had been a moment ago. Nora looked like it was any other day.

There were those there as well who had sympathy in their eyes. Whatever they had heard, from both sides, they were sorry for her. She didn't know what to do with those, so they would just move on. She had a feeling that when certain members of the faculty would find out, they would seek her out, asking if she was alright. She wasn't sure if she was ready for those, one in particular. But then there he came.

"Nora," she heard her stepfather's voice and she stopped, turning around. This wasn't a social call. The little birds had carried their whispers all the way to him. Having him there as a teacher could be a blessing or a curse, depending on the day. Right now she wished he didn't have to be here to see this.

"Dad, I know," she told him, breathing out and hoping he could restrain himself from hugging her right there in the hall.

"Everything alright?" he still asked her.

"A bunch of our acts for the show have quit now, so about that, no it's not alright. The rest…"

"Listen, we can talk about this. If you feel the need to go home for the rest of the day, I can…"

"Dad, please, no," she stopped him. "No special treatment," she told him. She knew he was only acting as a father now, and she appreciated it, but this was not the way. "You know if I needed anything I would tell you. Just let me get through this day, okay?" He still looked like he wanted to hug her, or carry her away. Later she would have to indulge him, in the safety of their home, and tell him how much she appreciated him.

"Do you know who's responsible for this?" Now he was moving into avenger mode.

"Not really, no. Look we need to get to class," she told him, taking Emily and Grace off with her.

"Are you crazy?" Emily asked her once they had moved out of earshot from Finn. "We all know who's behind it."

"Yeah, and I'm not going to be the tattletale who ran to her daddy for help. I can take care of myself."

"What are you going to do?" Grace asked her.

"I don't know yet," Nora shook her head as they turned the corner. When they did though, they could see her, in the corner, talking with Jocelyn, another of their singing acts.

"Oh, we better get in there before she works some Jedi mind trick on her, too," Emily was off before Nora could stop her.

"Wait!" she followed, Grace on her heels.

"Hey Joss, I think someone broke into your locker," Emily called out, hooking her thumb over her shoulder.

"Again?" Jocelyn scurried away from Bailey, who frowned and moved to wheel away. Nora wouldn't have expected Grace to be the one to go and try to stand in her way.

"Move, Nessie," Bailey tried to go around her, but Grace moved with her. "You're not going to get much dancing in if I break your toes," Bailey warned her.

"This will only take a minute," Nora came up, and Bailey turned to face her.

"You know, I think Jocelyn is considering backing out of the fundraiser, too," she spoke with fake curiosity. "That would just be a shame, wouldn't it?"

"So you're not denying it, then?"

"I don't know what you are talking about. I will say though, I am amazed at my own patience."

"She's kidding, right?" Emily glared.

"You hold on to something you just sort of happen to discover, and it will reward you tenfold, when the moment comes," she smiled. "But, like I said, I do not know what you are talking about. I can't wait to see how this little show of yours turns out. I better go and keep rehearsing. Hey, you don't think I could get a third song in? Maybe I can even close out the whole show. Who's got that one?"

"I do." Bailey turned to Grace. "And I'm not going anywhere." The blonde in the wheelchair smirked.

"Watch your toes, Nessie. Watch your toes." They let her go, not stopping her. Nora took a deep breath. She had known the day would be long; it had just gotten longer. All she wanted to do was to get home.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	5. The Weapon

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Revealing & Accepting"**

**5. The Weapon**

Emily and Grace had wanted to come home with her, but she'd told them, as she had told everyone who had asked her throughout the day, that she was fine. Same as she did every day, she was the first to arrive home, and as she closed the door behind herself, she could finally admit it. She wasn't fine.

She went through the motions, as she did. Put the shoes away, take the bag upstairs, come back down and fix a snack, eat it… Her body was working through the list, doing it all, while her mind was so far away.

She was supposed to go up and do her homework now. It was easy that way, there was no one to distract her, and if she finished early enough, by the time her parents and her little sister got home, she could play with Hailey with a clear conscience. But she must have sat there for ages, her pencil in hand, staring at the blank page. When she thought she heard a car downstairs, she startled, looked down at her notebook. She hadn't written a thing, but there were two wet spots in the center of the page.

"Nora, are you up there?" her mother's voice resonated, and she flinched, reaching to touch her face. Her cheeks were wet, as she would have suspected. She grabbed a tissue and tried to dry it away, not to leave any trace. "Nora…"

She turned. Her mother had come straight up to her room, and seeing the concern on her face, it felt like her composure was being taken to the breaking point, no matter how hard she fought against it. The moment she bowed her head, she felt her mother come up and put her arms around her, and that did her in. She allowed herself to cry in earnest, while her mother held her, gently rubbing at her back.

"Where's Hailey?" she heard herself ask after a while.

"I dropped her off at my mother's before I came," Quinn revealed, pulling away but staying crouched next to her daughter's desk chair.

"Dad called you, didn't he?"

"He did," Quinn confessed. "And Mr. Schuester. And Emily, and Grace," she counted off.

"Where is he?" she asked, just as they heard the car outside. Out of habit, she turned to look. When she did, she saw he was arriving, and he wasn't alone. Her father and her stepmother were getting out of the car as well. They were in town, them and Hannah, for the fundraiser show. "Oh…" she breathed nervously. She wasn't sure she was ready for all of them at once.

"Hey, look at me," Quinn told her, and she turned around. "Just tell me what you want us to do." She took a breath and let it out, patting at her face with the tissue again before getting up. "Okay," Quinn understood, brushing hair out of her daughter's face, placing a kiss at the side of her head. They walked out of her room together, getting to the top of the stairs just as the other three were coming through the door. She hated to see them all so worried, especially to see them so worried about her.

When they arrived at the bottom of the stairs, she was greeted by one hug after another. She soaked each one of them up, holding them near. Her father was last, and to him she held the most; he always gave the best hugs. She knew she'd have to let go of him eventually, and she would have to talk to them. For now though she was fine with being held protectively by her father.

Eventually though, they had gone, and they sat in the kitchen. She wouldn't name Bailey, no matter how much they all seemed to want to know. The most important she needed to do was to set their minds at ease, to explain to them just what it was that was making her cry, because it might not have been exactly what they thought it would be.

"I'm not crying because they know," she shook her head.

"You're not," Rachel shook her head.

"I like who I am, it's just me," Nora told her. "I'm proud to be exactly who I am, and they're not going to make me change. I didn't hide it, they just… they didn't see it. I'm fine with them knowing, they're going to have to, eventually," she insisted, trying not to get worked up, the closer she got to the other part.

"Then what is it then?" Puck asked, and she could feel her hands shrink in on themselves, sitting in front of her on the table.

"It's… They want to use it against me," she bowed her head. "I thought that… everything was fine, that it wasn't any big deal, and I was happy about that. Now it feels like… they were just tolerating me, and today they turned on me. I never felt like that before."

"You could have come home," Finn spoke up, but she shook her head.

"I'm not hiding. I'm never going to hide," she maintained. "I shouldn't have to. But they're trying to hurt me, and they're hurting the fundraiser in the process," she went on. "It's going to be my fault."

"This is not your fault, Nora," Quinn took her hand. "I swear to you, this will not be your fault." She looked like she was trying not to cry either.

"And it's not over," Puck jumped in. "This is your chance to turn things around. You fight back, and you do what you've always done. You be proud, and if they argue, you tell them 'yeah? So what?'" he raised his chin in defiance, and it made her smile. "No one messes with a Puckerman." Quinn cleared her throat. "Or a Fabray, or a Berry, or a Hudson…" he pointed from one to the other and the next. "Put all those together and, see? No one's going to mess with you."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	6. The Support

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Revealing & Accepting"**

**6. The Support**

The first time she would press her hand to the dragonfly pendant around her neck would be right outside the doors to McKinley the next morning. She would do it again, whenever she needed a courage boost, thinking about how blessed she was to have four parents who loved her so much, for exactly who she was. She would do it several times throughout the day.

They had a mission on that day, her, Emily, Grace, her stepfather, Mr. Schuester, and Jay. They would try and appeal to those who had quit, first and foremost. Nora did not expect much change in that department, but she had to hope maybe somewhere in there they weren't such lost causes, and they could be released from Bailey's manipulations. Beyond the four who had quit by the time she had found out, two more had followed during the previous day. This was perfect, if they could call it that. Each one of them could appeal to one of the quitters, and that would be the end of it.

Nora's mark had been a freshman magician. She remembered his act, and he was excellent. If they couldn't get him back, it would have been a loss to their fundraiser. She had told him this much. He looked uncertain even then, so she asked him to please consider it, and to remember what they were doing this for.

As she had left him, she found a girl staring at her from across the hall. She had seen her around, though she couldn't place a name on her face. She wasn't sure what she wanted, but then the girl came up to her.

"Hey," she nodded in greeting.

"Hey," Nora returned it.

"You're the one who's in charge of the show, the fundraiser?"

"I am, why?" Was she going to say something mean, or… She touched the dragonfly at her neck, waiting for the girl to respond.

"I'd like to audition," she declared. Nora had expected anything but that.

"You would? Why didn't you…" The girl shrugged.

"To be honest, I've never really performed on a stage, I'll play in my room, but…"

"What do you play?" Nora asked.

"Guitar now, and I can sing. I used to study violin, my parents had me in lessons since I was little, and I hated every minute of it." This made Nora chuckle and let go of the dragonfly.

"I've got my guitar, too. Mr. Schuester lets me keep her in the choir room, I can take you there now if you're ready to audition," she nodded back toward the room.

"I'm ready whenever you are," the girl nodded.

"So, if you didn't audition before, why do you want to do it now?"

"Because Bailey Strong is a bitch. Well, so am I, kind of, but you won't see me pulling a stunt like she did. So if it's going to show her up, then I'm in."

"Okay, sounds good," Nora had to smirk as she nodded. "I'm sorry, I don't…" she held out her hand, and the girl shook it.

"Francesca Saito," she gave her name.

"Nora Fabray."

"Yeah, I know," Francesca followed her as they went to the choir room.

For the first time, after she had left the choir room, Nora thought maybe this version of the show might have been made better by the fallout of Bailey's campaign. It had allowed them to gain someone like Francesca Saito, who had been nothing short of a revelation. And she wasn't the only one.

Of the six they had lost, only half would agree to return. But along the way, they had been approached by others who had initially decided not to audition but, in light of what had happened, had changed their minds, as a way of showing support for Nora. Even if they were not up for performing, they were willing to do anything from helping with the staging to designing programs. They had filled in the vacated spots and then some. This had left her with one task to accomplish, and she would try not to take too much overt pleasure in doing it.

When she found Bailey, the look on the girl's face told her that she still had no idea of anything that was happening; Nora had to keep herself from smiling… how things had changed.

"Oh, Bailey, listen, here's the thing," she approached her. "Yeah, so I can't give you Mason's spot after all, because I've given it to Francesca Saito."

"Who?" Bailey shrugged, like she had no idea who that was.

"Word of advice, if you try and play your little game with her, I have this feeling you're going to hit a wall, a big, gay, brick wall, so, you know, don't feel bad," she played into it just a bit; she'd earned that much. "Oh, and also, we now have more acts than we used to, so, I could just cut you out entirely."

"Excuse me?" Bailey glared.

"But I'm not going to. It is, after all, for a good cause, and you do have talent, not just as a manipulator." She paused, letting that sink in for her. "We could have been friends, you know? We have something in common. We both have something about ourselves we won't let define us. Mine might not be as easy to see, but it's there. And we're clearly passionate about what we do. But I can't be your friend, not anymore."

"Who said I want you to be my friend?" Bailey scoffed.

"Maybe not now. But someday you could, and when you do, just remember this moment, and then you'll know why it can never be." She didn't reply now. "Don't be late to rehearsals, or else I will have to bump you from the show." And with that, she had walked away. She touched the dragonfly, took a breath. She wouldn't keep resenting her. If she let it get to her every time she saw that girl, then how would it be any better? She wouldn't resent her, but she'd remember where they stood.

TO BE CONCLUDED (TOMORROW)


	7. The Show

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Revealing & Accepting"**

**7. The Show**

The day of the fundraiser had still seemed far away a moment ago, but now it had arrived, and before they knew it the auditorium was packed, all the acts were getting ready and waiting on their turn, and Nora was standing in the wings, looking off at all the people who had come to watch them. In particular she looked to the section where her family sat. There were all four of her parents, and all her grandparents. Hailey, Hannah, and the twins had been left in the care of their usual babysitter. Her father had spotted her there, and he snuck her a funny face, which made her smirk. It was his way of telling her good luck, and that was just how she wanted it.

"So, is the evil spawn going to sing tonight?" She turned at the sound of Emily's voice.

"Don't call her that," Nora insisted. "And yes, she is."

"Say what you want, but the name suits her," she crossed her arms before herself.

"Are my mother and Aidan here yet?" Grace joined them. Nora saw her, all dressed for her number, and she almost forgot her question until Emily elbowed her.

"Yeah, over there, see?" she stood aside to let her through. Grace waved, and her little brother waved back. "You know they would have been there if…" she added, seeing a momentary look of sadness flash across the redhead's face. She would have liked to see her father and older brother there as well.

"I know," she nodded. Nora reached over to fix a strand of her hair, which looked ready to fall loose. "Thanks," Grace smiled.

"I open the show and you close it, and Emily closes the first half, not bad, right?"

"Nicely spaced, Captain," Emily put in, and Nora returned the elbow. "Ow, watch it," she frowned, playing like she wasn't pulling back a laugh.

"Alright, Nora, ready to go?" Mr. Schuester came up to them.

"As I'll ever be," she held up her guitar, Harper.

They would open the show with a quick speech before taking the stage. She had been meant to have her own song, but then she had decided there was potential for something better. So she had asked Mr. Schuester if he would join her in a duet. He accepted, and so they sat together, and they sang while she played. The audience applauded in the end, and Nora introduced the next act.

The show was going as smoothly as they could hope. All the acts which had remained, and those who had been brought back, along with the new additions, they had all been brought tighter together. There was still something of a loose cannon in the shape of Bailey, but after Nora had confronted her, she had been fairly quiet, staying out of people's way. When her turn came, she did her job, with a smile as fake as it needed to be. Part of Nora felt bad for her, despite everything that had happened.

The night had ended with Grace and her ballet number. Nora and Emily stayed in the wings to watch her, just as Nora and Grace had stood to watch Emily.

"You're going to have to do something about this, you know?" Emily told her, which she guessed meant she was staring off at Grace again, with her 'lovey eyes,' as Emily called them.

"Not going to be tonight, is it?" Nora defended, and Emily planted her chin on her shoulder.

"Right, not tonight."

As the show had ended, her parents and grandparents had brought her flowers and congratulations. Mr. Schuester had been very pleased as well, telling her how this year might have been their best collection in a while.

All of their parents had ended up pooled together and chatting, so the girls waited for them, sitting at the edge of the stage, looking out into the empty auditorium.

"I can't believe it's done," Nora breathed out, exhausted.

"Well I loved it," Emily added. "You know me, anything for a good show."

"You were both fantastic, I must say," Nora gave them claps, and Grace laughed.

"Were you trying to imitate me, Nora Fabray?"

"I don't know, how did I do?" she continued in her mock Scottish accent.

"Needs a wee bit of work," Grace gave her critique.

"You realize they will all know now," Emily spoke, and Nora looked at her. "Secret's out, how do you feel?" She didn't need to think about it, but she did, just to make sure.

"I just feel the same…" she smiled.

Over the last few days, leading up to the show, she had thought about it, too, and the conclusion she had come to was that, to some degree, she'd needed this to happen. She hadn't needed the way Bailey had tried to bring her down, and how she'd chosen to do it, but she had needed to be shown that, as much as there would be those people who would write her off or say and do things because of who she was, there were also those who, even without really knowing her, would stand by her side. And she had friends, and family, and the love she had always known them to have for her… She wanted to show them even more how much they meant to her. Sometimes it felt like she didn't show it enough.

"Do you think your parents would let you guys sleep over tonight?" Nora asked the others.

"Probably, why?" Emily asked.

"It was just a great night. It'd be a shame to let it end so quick."

"Oh, I like the sound of that," Emily stood.

"No ice cream," Grace pointed at her, and she frowned. "You know what happened last time." Emily stared at her, then sighed.

"Yeah, I remember." It would go down in 'GraNoLy' history as their best sleepover.

THE END


End file.
